Country house owner reflects on 30 'lucky' years

Caroline Magnus said she plans to stop opening up the house to visitors at the end of the year

It has been 30 years since Caroline Magnus inherited Stokesay Court in Shropshire. One Hollywood movie and thousands of visitors later, she is preparing to close to its doors, but said she had had a "fantastic time".

She was working in London in 1994 when she learned she had been left the country estate by her aunt, and she spent the next 10 years making it fit to live in.

But the big moment came in 2007 when the Oscar-winning film Atonement, starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, was shot there.

Ms Magnus said she felt "lucky" to have met so many people over the years, but it was time to enjoy the house to herself.

The letter, telling her she had inherited the late-Victorian house and its extensive grounds, was waiting on her doorstep when she returned home from work one day.

It contained a copy of the will and a compliments slip and she said: "It took a little while to understand what it was all about."

She explained her aunt had lived in the home before her death, but it was in a "pretty poor state" when she moved in, in 1995.

"It needed complete reroofing, rewiring, replumbing and for the first 10 years that's pretty much all I did," she said.

Ms Magnus was also forced to sell most of the contents "in order to comply with the rather complicated will and to pay rather a lot of taxes".

Emeli Sandé visited Stokesay Court in 2023 to film a music video

Living at Stokesay Court has not been without its challenges, even after the restoration work.

She said there had been a few "interesting moments" over the years, "because there are always things that can go wrong with floods and so on with a house this size".

But she added: "By and large it's been fantastic and it's given me the opportunity to meet lots of people, to see a feature film being made."

Atonement was a highlight for her, and she stayed throughout the filming of the romantic wartime drama.

"I thought this was once in a lifetime," she said.

Another highlight was the visit of Emile Sandé in October 2023 for the filming of a music video, with Ms Magnus saying she had thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the singer.

Caroline Magnus moved into Stokesay Court in 2023

A recent accident, which resulted in a broken ankle, convinced Ms Magnus it was time to stop opening up the house to visitors and to enjoy her home by herself more.

Public visits to the house will end at Christmas, but she will still open up the grounds for special events.

She said she planned to "enjoy it more as a home than a business" from now on.